Chile Population: 17,650,114

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the Inca ruled northern Chile while the Mapuche inhabited central and southern Chile. Although Chile declared its independence in 1810, decisive victory over the Spanish was not achieved until 1818. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83), Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia and won its present northern regions. It was not until the 1880s that the Mapuche were brought under central government control. After a series of elected governments, the three-year-old Marxist government of Salvador ALLENDE was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup led by General Augusto PINOCHET, who ruled until a freely elected president was inaugurated in 1990. Sound economic policies, maintained consistently since the 1980s, contributed to steady growth, reduced poverty rates by over half, and helped secure the country's commitment to democratic and representative government. Chile has increasingly assumed regional and international leadership roles befitting its status as a stable, democratic nation.

The longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 39 degrees of latitude; strategic location relative to sea lanes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Atacama Desert - the driest desert in the world - spreads across the northern part of the country; the crater lake of Ojos del Salado is the world's highest lake (at 6,390 m)

Location:

Southern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru

severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis volcanism: significant volcanic activity due to more than three-dozen active volcanoes along the Andes Mountains; Lascar (elev. 5,592 m), which last erupted in 2007, is the most active volcano in the northern Chilean Andes; Llaima (elev. 3,125 m) in central Chile, which last erupted in 2009, is another of the country's most active; Chaiten's 2008 eruption forced major evacuations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Cerro Hudson, Calbuco, Copahue, Guallatiri, Llullaillaco, Nevados de Chillan, Puyehue, San Pedro, and Villarrica

Current Environment Issues:

widespread deforestation and mining threaten natural resources; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution from raw sewage

Spanish 99.5% (official), English 10.2%, indigenous 1% (includes Mapudungun, Aymara, Quechua, Rapa Nui), other 2.3%, unspecified 0.2% note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2012 est.)

conventional long form: Republic of Chile conventional short form: Chile local long form: Republica de Chile local short form: Chile etymology: derivation of the name is unclear, but it may come from the Mapuche word "chilli" meaning "limit of the earth" or from the Quechua "chiri" meaning "cold"

many previous; latest adopted 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981; amended many times, last in 2011; note - in late 2015, the Chilean Government initiated a process to reform its constitution (2016)

Legal system:

civil law system influenced by several West European civil legal systems; judicial review of legislative acts by the Constitutional Tribunal

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Michelle BACHELET Jeria (since 11 March 2014); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Michelle BACHELET Jeria (since 11 March 2014)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a single 4-year term; election last held on 17 November 2013 with a runoff held on 15 December 2013 (next to be held on 19 November 2017)

description: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (38 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by majority vote to serve 8-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 4 years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (120 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by majority vote to serve 4-year terms); note - in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, the party winning at least two-thirds of the votes is entitled to 2 seats in the constituency; if it obtains less than two-thirds of the votes, it is entitled to 1 seat with the remaining seat awarded to the next highest winning party

elections: Senate - last held on 17 November 2013 (next to be held on 15 November 2017); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 17 November 2013 (next to be held on 15 November 2017)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - New Majority Coalition (formerly known as Concertacion) 19 (PDC 6, PS 6, PPD 6, MAS 1), Coalition for Change (formerly known as the Alianza coalition) 15 (RN 6, UDI 8, Amplitude Party 1), independents 4; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - New Majority 68 (PDC 21, PS 16, PPD 14, PC 6, PRSD 6, Citizen Left 1, independents 4), Coalition for Change 47 (UDI 29, RN 14, independents 3, EP 1), Liberal Party 1, independents 4 note: In January 2015, the Chilean Congress voted to end the binomial system that was put in place under Gen. Augusto PINOCHET; the Congress also voted to expand its size and establish rules to ensure that there is equitable gender representation; the new electoral system will be put in place in 2017

Judicial branch:

highest court(s): Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (consists of a court president and 20 members or ministros); Constitutional Court (consists of 7 members); Elections Qualifying Court (consists of 5 members) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the president and ratified by the Senate from lists of candidates provided by the court itself; judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 70; Constitutional Court members appointed - 3 by the Supreme Court, 1 by the president of the republic, 2 by the National Security Council, and 1 by the Senate; members serve 8-year terms with partial membership replacement every 4 years (the court reviews constitutionality of legislation); Elections Qualifying Court member appointments - 4 by the Supreme Court and 1 - a former president or vice-president of the Senate or Chamber of Deputies - also selected by the Supreme Court; members appointed for 4-year terms

Broad Social Movement or MAS [Alejandro NAVARRO Brain] Citizen Left or IC [Sergio AGUILO] Coalition for Change or CC (also known as the Alliance for Chile (Alianza) or APC) (including National Renewal or RN [Cristian MONCKEBERG Bruner], and Independent Democratic Union or UDI [Hernan LARRAIN Fernandez] Coalition of Parties for Democracy (Concertacion) or CPD (including Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Jorge PIZARRO Soto], Party for Democracy or PPD [Jaime Daniel QUINTANA Leal], Radical Social Democratic Party or PRSD [Ernesto VELASCO Rodriguez], and Socialist Party or PS [Isabel ALLENDE Bussi]) Communist Party of Chile (Partido Comunista de Chile) or PC [Guillermo TEILLIER del Valle] Ecological Green Party [Felix GONZALEZ Gatica] Equality Party [Guillermo GONZALEZ Castro] Humanist Party or PH [Octavio GONZALEZ] Independent Regionalist Party or PRI [Alejandra BRAVO Hidalgo] Liberal Party (Partido Liberal de Chile) [Vlado MIROSEVIC] Political Evolution or EP [Felipe KAST] Progressive Party or PRO [Patricia MORALES]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Roman Catholic Church, particularly conservative groups such as Opus Dei United Labor Central or CUT (includes trade unionists from the country's five largest labor confederations) other: university student federations at all major universities

note: music adopted 1828, original lyrics adopted 1818, adapted lyrics adopted 1847; under Augusto PINOCHET"s military rule, a verse glorifying the army was added; however, as a protest, some citizens refused to sing this verse; it was removed when democracy was restored in 1990

Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade and a reputation for strong financial institutions and sound policy that have given it the strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. Exports of goods and services account for approximately one-third of GDP, with commodities making up some 60% of total exports. Copper alone provides 20% of government revenue. From 2003 through 2013, real growth averaged almost 5% per year, despite the slight contraction in 2009 that resulted from the global financial crisis. Growth slowed to an estimated 2.3% in 2015. A continued drop in copper prices prompted Chile to experience its second consecutive year of slow growth, elevated inflation, and a depreciating currency. Chile deepened its longstanding commitment to trade liberalization with the signing of a free trade agreement with the US, which took effect on 1 January 2004. Chile has 22 trade agreements covering 60 countries including agreements with the EU, Mercosur, China, India, South Korea, and Mexico. In May 2010, Chile signed the OECD Convention, becoming the first South American country to join the OECD. In October 2015, Chile joined the US and 10 other countries and concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. The agreement will need to be ratified by the Chilean legislature. The Chilean Government has generally followed a countercyclical fiscal policy, accumulating surpluses in sovereign wealth funds during periods of high copper prices and economic growth, and generally allowing deficit spending only during periods of low copper prices and growth. As of 31 October 2015, those sovereign wealth funds - kept mostly outside the country and separate from Central Bank reserves - amounted to more than $22.4 billion. Chile used these funds to finance fiscal stimulus packages during the 2009 economic downturn. In 2014, President Michelle BACHELET introduced tax reforms aimed at delivering her campaign promise to fight inequality and to provide access to education and health care. The reforms are expected to generate additional tax revenues equal to 3% of Chile’s GDP, mostly by increasing corporate tax rates to OECD averages.

general assessment: privatization began in 1988; most advanced telecommunications infrastructure in South America; modern system based on extensive microwave radio relay facilities; domestic satellite system with 3 earth stations

domestic: number of fixed-line connections have stagnated in recent years as mobile-cellular usage continues to increase, reaching 130 telephones per 100 persons

international: country code - 56; landing points for the Pan American, South America-1, and South American Crossing/Latin America Nautilus submarine cables providing links to the US and to Central and South America; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011)

Broadcast media:

national and local terrestrial TV channels, coupled with extensive cable TV networks; the state-owned Television Nacional de Chile (TVN) network is self-financed through commercial advertising revenues and is not under direct government control; large num (2007)

18-45 years of age for voluntary male and female military service, although the right to compulsory recruitment of males 18-45 is retained; service obligation is 12 months for Army and 22 months for Navy and Air Force (2015)

Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile has offered instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile to Bolivian natural gas; Chile rejects Peru's unilateral legislation to change its latitudinal maritime boundary with Chile to an equidistance line with a southwestern axis favoring Peru; in October 2007, Peru took its maritime complaint with Chile to the ICJ; territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine and British claims; the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001, has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur)

Illicit drugs:

transshipment country for cocaine destined for Europe and the region; some money laundering activity, especially through the Iquique Free Trade Zone; imported precursors passed on to Bolivia; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, making Chile a significant consumer of cocaine (2008)